IT and Bitcoin: Like Butter and Toast

Editor’s note: This post was written by CBT Nuggets founder and CEO Dan Charbonneau, a champion of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has the potential to change the world for the better by bringing banking to the unbanked, decreasing the source of power of many corrupt and poorly run governments, and striking down the tax we know as inflation.

Rhetoric aside, it’s time to give a big thank you to the IT community for facilitating the Bitcoin revolution. Without those of us who can’t contain our excitement for the artistic beauty of a system that motivates the behavior that sustains its life and growth, Bitcoin would be just another idea that people talk about. We brought it to life.

It’s fascinating to see the pieces come together and work. It’s invigorating to talk about how it solves problems with the current monetary system. And it’s fortunate that the very crowd that Bitcoin needs to make it work is the crowd that it appeals to most.

Getting involved in Bitcoin (capital B for the protocol and money transmission network; lowercase “b” for the currency) provides many advantages for aspiring IT professionals:

It gives you a practical and universal playground to learn about IT security, networking, development/programming, Linux, cloud technologies, hardware, and even electricity.

It provides a practical way to implement your backup and data protection knowledge.

It integrates with all the physical hardware you love to buy and play with: phones, tablets, Chromebooks, PCs, etc.

It satisfies that urge you have to make something inefficient more efficient.

It lets you feel and sound smart. 🙂

Most importantly, Bitcoin gives you a place to dream. The technology is so young and so new that we are in no way saturated. How frustrating is it to think of a great way to use the technologies of the Internet only to see that 15 businesses have already done it? Bitcoin is smack dab in the middle of the “wild, wild west.” It represents untapped potential and opportunity, not only through the development of technologies to utilize the distributed trust of a blockchain, but also with ways to monetize it — and make a difference in the world with a business opportunity.